A few bottles of Baggins Brew

Some as gifts and some to have at home. About six bottles in total this time.

Amazingly this batch is still fermenting. I can still taste a small amount of carbonation. I like it best after it has sat on the counter for a while or, sometimes, warmed a little in the microwave.

The hydrometer read: 0.992

My father-in-law seems to really like it. We’ve enjoyed a few glasses of mead together in the last little while.

There’s only about 1 gallon left of this mead I began almost a year ago. It’s good there are a few more maturing in the ole mead closet. 😉

Traditional v2

Dauphin, Manitoba Location (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A few months back another friend, after learning I was making mead, gave me 13 lbs of honey from Western Sky Apiaries in Dauphin, Manitoba. Today I got the chance to finally mix my second 5 gallon batch of traditional mead. I made the first one 11 months ago in August. That one is finishing very dry in large part because of the yeast I used: Lalvin EC1118. I still have two packages of Lalvin EC1118 which I used in this new batch. In about 5 months I’ll try to stop the yeast from reproducing using a combination of cold crashing and potassium sorbate … I’ve got some time to read up on how to do that properly.

Here’s the recipe I used:

15 lbs Wildflower Honey
(13 lbs of it from Western Sky Apiaries in Dauphin, MB + 2 lbs of wildflower honey from Elie, MB)
Spring water to 5 US gallons
2 Tbsp DAP
2 packets Lalvin EC-1118 yeast

OG: 1.128

The pictures show:

• Western Sky Honey
• Partially crystalized honey
• Honey liquified after hot water bath
• Hydrometer reading
• OG: 1.128
• Mixing the must

JAOM Variants v3 and v4

English: A bee sits on the sunflower, collects honey. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It turns out a friend on my street keeps a beehive. We got to talking and he gave me 4.5 lbs of sunflower honey he had harvested last summer. I’m making some mead and I’ll share the fruits of this labour with him when it’s done. (Not a bad deal, for either of us, eh? ;-))

Joe’s Ancient Orange Mead is quick, ready in just a few months. It’s growing on me but I find it a little too sweet so I’m playing with the honey content. Joe’s recipe calls for 3.5 lbs of honey/US gallon. My JAOM v3 has 3 lbs of honey & v4 has 2.5 lbs of honey. We’ll see how it turns out.

You can find the full details for making JAOM here. This is how these two short meads were put together this time around …

JAOM v3

3 lbs Sunflower Honey
Spring water to 1 US gallon
1 Large navel orange in 12 slices (this is usually 8 slices but the oranges were BIG)
1 cinnamon stick
1 clove
1 snack box package of raisins
1 tsp bread yeast

OG: 1.140

Sunflower Honey

3lbs of Sunflower Honey

Hydrometer Reading

JAOM v4

1.5 lbs Sunflower Honey
1 lbs Wildflower Honey
Spring water to 1 US gallon
1 Large navel orange in 12 slices (the rind fell off two slices)
1 cinnamon stick
1 clove
1 snack box package of raisins
1 tsp bread yeast

OG: 1.114

JAOM v4 Hydrometer Reading

Racking Day

I racked 4 different meads today. From youngest to oldest:

2nd Racking of Jalpeño Mead
SG: 1.000

3rd Racking of The Grey Wizard v2
A lemon-Earl Grey tea mead.
SG: 1.006

6th Racking of The Grey Wizard v1
SG: 1.032

6th Racking of Undómiel
SG: 1.008

Capsicumel: Jalapeño Chili Mead

I’ve been wanting to do this for a while now. I would’ve never thought to add chilies to mead but folks that have made chili mead (known as capsicumel) speak highly of it. We’ll see how it tastes in six months.

Recipe
3.25 lbs of farm fresh honey
2.5 litres of spring water
3 jalapeño chilies seeded & cut in sixths
1 tsp DAP (yeast nutrient)
1 tsp yeast energizer
1 package of Lalvin D47 yeast

 

 

First I sanitized everything including the uncut jalapeños.

The honey had crystallized so I heated it for 2 minutes in the microwave and added 500ml of boiled spring water. Shook it up until it was all dissolved.

I poured the honey water into the glass jug and added the cut & seeded jalapeños.

While that was going on I had two sanitized glasses filled with warm spring water. In one I added the yeast nutrient and energizer. In the other I added the yeast. I let them sit for 15 minutes.

I added the yeast nutrient & energizer mixture and took a hydrometer reading: 1.132. Then I stirred and added the activated yeast.

I shook the jug for a solid 5 minutes to oxygenate the mixture well.

I added enough water to leave about 10-15cm of head space and capped it with an airlock.

I’m using a brown jug so I don’t have to wrap it in a towel to protect it from sunlight. In about a week I’ll likely move it into a clear secondary.

The Grey Wizard v2

My first Lemon-Earl Grey Tea Mead (The Grey Wizard) isn’t quite done. I’m hopeful it will finish well in time but I think it’s got too strong of a lemon scent/flavour and not enough bergamot. I’ve also got 3 lbs of wildflower honey from my friend Rex I still have to turn into mead so I made a one gallon (3.785 L) batch of another Lemon-Earl Grey Tea Mead building on what I’ve learned. Here’s the new recipe.

Recipe

3 lbs wildflower honey (very dark with fullbodied flavour)

1 litre of strong Earl Grey Tea (2 tea bags President’s Choice Brand; it has a strong bergamot flavour)

1 snack box of raisins

1 lemon cut into 8 wedges (A second lemon will be added during secondary fermentation.)

1 package of Lalvin D47 yeast (recommended for mead)

Step 1

Remember, step 1 is always: Sanitize everything, even the lemon. I use a mixture, in the kitchen sink, of bleech and water; 15ml/gallon. I usually use a gallon jug to measure out 4 gallons of water into the sink, add the bleech, mix and sanitize everything: the airlock & stopper, the knife, a spoon, a plate to cut the lemon, the cup that holds the yeast & water mixture, the container that holds the tea, the gallon jug … everything that’s going to touch my mead. I also sanitize the top of my plastic primary fermenter and use that as a surface to set anything down on while I’m pitching everything together.

About Yeast Nutrients

I’m using the mixture of tea, lemon and raisins (for nitrogen) in place of DAP (diammonium phosphate) as a yeast nutrient. I’m not certain yet of the wisdom of this. I’ve read about many brewers who prefer this “all natural” approach and at least as many brewers insist on using DAP or other chemical nutrients. Time will tell if this is the way to go. We’ll see how it tastes. 😉

UPDATE: Jan 4

I added a teaspoon of DAP. It seems to me the must is fermenting slowly; there’s not as vigorous yeast action as I was expecting. I’ve also been reading about staggered nutrient additions for mead. One fellow has his meads finish in 6 weeks! Anyway, I’ve added the DAP and a little spring water to the must. Within an hour the must was bubbling quite well.

Putting It All Together

I brewed a litre of very strong Earl Grey tea using two tea bags. While it cooled I boiled some spring water and used it to disolve the crystalized honey in the container. I also warmed (room temperature) a little spring water in a glass and added the yeast to get it started; at least 15 min.

I cut the lemon in eight wedges threw them into the gallon jug with a snack box of raisins. Then I added the tea and the hot water and honey mixture. I also topped it up a bit with some more spring water to cool it all down. I left a good 8-10 cm of space at the top of the jug to allow for the initial yeast activity. I’ll top it up again with more spring water in about a week or so when the yeast activity slows down.

Next, shake it all up for a good 5 minutes to get as much air in the must as possible. Then pitch in the yeast. Give a gentle swirl and put the airlock & stopper on top.

I took a hydrometer reading: approximately 1.110

 

I’ll rack it in about a month. I anticipate a 9 month wait before it’s “ready”.

Racking JAOM v2

I made this second batch of Ancient Orange Mead to share with my buddy Rex. He gave me about 6 lbs of wildflower honey and I’m turning it into mead.The wildflower honey is different from the honey (mostly from canola flowers) I’ve used in all my other meads; it’s darker and had a more full bodied flavour.

I first pitched it together on Nov 25. It’s cleared and, according to Joe, that means it’s ready. I’m not convinced. You can see from the pictures just how much sediment has accumulated. SO, I’ve racked it and I’ll let it sit for at least another two months. In a recent conversation I had with another brewer he told me that mead generally has a significant flavour jump after 3 months, 6 months and 10 months. I know JAOM is supposed to be a quicker mead to make but I want to give it at least 3 months before I bottle it and share it with Rex.

The pictures show:

• Two views of the new and old (bottled on Dec 16, pitched Oct 7) JOAMs side by side.
• A before racking shot from above.
• The detritus left behind after racking.
• An after racking shot; it’ll need some time to clear again.
• Two after racking shots side-by-side with my first JAOM.
• The SG reading: 1.040

I topped it all up with about 500ml of spring water after racking.

 

The dark colour of the wildflower honey will make this a darker mead. I made it exactly the same way I did my first JAOM except for this change in the honey. It’ll be interesting to see what effect that has on the flavour.

Bottling JAOM v1

I bottled my first mead; Joe’s Ancient Orange Mead.

I’ve read and received lots of different advice about bottling; specifically how to sanitize the corks. Some folks say don’t bother. I boiled the corks for 5 min before bottling. I’ve seen others suggest steaming them. I’ve learned that by boiling or steaming you can get “cork water” dripping into you mead which can impart a “corky” flavour to it. I’m thinking next time I’ll just cork the bottles and not worry about sanitizing them but I’ll read up on it more before then.

The original SG was about 1.128. I took a hydrometer reading: 1.034; which is weird because it was 1.030 when I racked it. I’ve got pictures of it; can’t explain.

Pictures show:

• The SG reading: 1.034
• Three different views of a glass of the mead. It’s golden and very clear.
• The mead bottled.

I actually got 4 full wine bottles and a little more. The smaller bottle in the last picture was almost full after bottling. We drank the rest.

 

 

 

I’m still ambivalent about the taste of this mead. It’s … interesting. I keep coming back to it but I’m not convinced I like it. I guess I was hoping for more of an orange-like flavour and that’s not really there.

Racking JAOM

I racked the Orange Spice mead I brewed back at the start of October. It’s been clear for a little more than a week. There’s a lot of sediment and “stuff” from the fermenting process.

You can see in the pictures how clear the mead became and:

• the cinnamon stick sitting in the lees.
• the orange slices, raisins & clove sitting on top.
• all the stuff leftover after racking.
• the racked mead, which got cloudy from some of the sediment that got mixed into it.
• the hydrometer reading: 1.030

I’ve also got a short video from the taste test I did. I’ll add that to the bottom of this post too.

3rd Racking of The Grey Wizard

It was a busy day. This was also the third racking if The Grey Wizard (Earl Grey Tea-Lemon Mead).

Last time I had added 1lb of honey because I found the taste harsh and very dry. I was worried that might have been too much honey to add. It wasn’t. This one tastes good not great. It’s mellowing. The honey has smoothed out the flavour and some of the harshness of the lemon. (Next time I make this I’ll use less lemon.)

I’m a little concerned that this mead seems to be taking a rather long time to clear. I can’t see through it in the jug an I can see through all the others.

Hydrometer reading: 1.030

The last picture is an “after racking” shot.

Topped up with strong Earl Grey Tea, this variety has a very distinctive bergamot flavor.